& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

No Going Back

by Farshed Mahmud
The wind howled through the dark empty streets. I had placed a bet with my friends that I would be able to visit the old Frederick Manor which was supposedly haunted by the ghost of its last owner. Str Frederick V. As I had no belief whatsoever’on ghosts or anything related to them, my adamant attitude readily look me through an ordeal which I thought would be a piece of cake However, the day before I had planned to spend the night at the manor. I gathered all the Information I could about the manor and of course. Sir Frederick V. I learned that approximately a hundred and fifty years ago. this manor, a veritable palace then, was inherited by Sir Frederick V after his father had committed suicide due to reasons unknown to everyone. Sir Frederick's family was a noble and rich one. They never faced problems common to othw people. They were a class completely to themselves. Therefore the news of a suicide In such a family was a shock to everyone, especially to Sir Frederick. He spent the next forty-five years alone in tliat mansion until one calm evening a tremendous shout for help was heard from Inside the manor As people went to Investigate they found Sir Frederick s body lying dead on the floor of his room.
After the mysterious death of Sir Frederick V there were constant stories from people about sightings of Sir Frederick himself roaming around his manor. It was from tla-n onwards that Frederick Manor carried the reputation of being haunted and not a single soul dared to move into the mansion, though there were a few certain brave ones like me who tried to spend the night there but gave up after an hour or two.
Although I knew I would be playing with fire by agreeing to spend the night at the manor, mv cotours were nailed to the mast I approached the dilapidated manor I walked up a
gravel path and came up to tlie door. The wind suddenly came up and the door .A wly creaked open. As I entered the manor. 1 found myself in a large dark hall. Thick cobwebs covered every corner of the hall. As my eyes adjusted lo the darkness. I looked around with great eagerness. The first thing my eyes fell on was the spiral staircase leading to the first floor. The adept woodwork on it fascinated me. There were Just two other doors on either side of the staircase. I decided to explore the ground floor first.
I chose one of the two doors and found myself in what seemed to be a family room It was partly empty but there were still some pieces of old furniture lying around. The was a fire-place in one corner of the room and an empty book shelf in ihc other. 1 left this room and went to the other This room was totally empty so I did not bother to look around. This room was also much smaller than the former
I was back tn the entrance hall when I suddenly noticed Eortraits of various people, ung on the wall all around. I had not noticed these when 1 first entered the room. I felt funny about the fact but trfen I thought it was probably my eyes that failed to notice them although that was quite unlikely unless I was blind. I however tried to forget about it and decided lo explore the first floor.
The old staircase Just barely managed lo hold me as 1 went up. Al the end of the staircase was a long corridor. My bewilderment was beyond tmaglna Hon as 1 found the corridor magnificently decorated with sculptures and various antiques. 1 wondered why nobody had ever noticed these but then I thought nobody ever dared to come up the stairs I entered the first room to the right of the corridor, a bedroom. The room was beautifully decorated with furniture that
seemed brand new. My heart Jumped to my mouth as I saw burning logs In the fire place! The hair at the back of my neck stood up as I saw the re fleetton of an old man on the mirror smiling at me. I 1m mediately turned back and all my fretful eyes met with was the empty wall. By now I was panic-stricken and I did not hesitate once to turn buck and look as I rushed downstairs, with the steps beneath me creaking and making eerie sounds. I ran as fast as I could out of the manor and realized that what I had done had no depth and magnitude and only a foolish person would do such a thing. As I left the neighbourhood of the manor, still running. I promised myself there would be no going back.